Beyoncé Once Donated $2 Million She Earned From Performing at Private Concert to Charity
In the late 2000s, Beyoncé was one of the few musicians who was paid millions of dollars to perform a private show for the family of Libya’s brutal dictator, Col. Muammar Gaddafi.
Though she was criticized heavily for putting on a performance for a man who ordered the killing thousands of people during his rule, it was later revealed that Beyoncé didn’t keep any of the money she earned for herself.
Beyoncé performed at a star-studding event in the Caribbean
On December 31, 2009, Beyoncé performed a private concert organized by Gaddafi’s son, Mutassim, on the Caribbean island of St. Barts.
Mutassim would hold these events every year and pay musicians big bucks to put on a dazzling show for him and his loved ones on the beautiful island.
But not only were Gaddafi’s family and friends invited to the shindig, he also extended invitations to big named celebrities like Jay-Z, Lindsay Lohan, and Usher, who were all apparently in attendance the year Beyoncé performed.
According to The Guardian, the Queen Bey sang a medley of her hit songs at the star-studded event and was paid as much as $2 million for her set.
After it was revealed that Beyoncé performed for Gaddafi at his exclusive New Year’s Eve party, many began criticized her for putting on a show for the brutal dictator’s family.
Some even slammed Bey for taking money from the prime minister as he’d been accused of stealing billions of dollars from Libya.
“When I saw Beyoncé and Usher and whoever else was out partying with these Libyan criminals … these are people who have stolen tens of billions of dollars from their nation,” said Howie Klein, former president of Reprise Records, said via Rolling Stone. “What they all have in common is they’re all kleptocracies – they’ve got a family stealing all the money. And for very, very wealthy American and British pop stars to take part in this kind of thing makes me want to puke.”
Beyoncé reportedly donated the money to a good cause
A few months after Beyoncé’s gig at Gaddafi’s New Year’s Eve party, it was revealed that she didn’t keep any of the money she earned that night for herself.
According to sources, Bey donated the complete payment and all commissions to help support earthquake relief in Haiti.
“All monies paid to Beyoncé for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St. Barts on New Year’s Eve 2009, including the commissions paid to her booking agency, were donated to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, over a year ago,” Beyoncé’s spokesperson, Yvette Noel-Schure, said in a statement to ABC News in 2010. “Once it became known that the third party promoter was linked to the [Gaddafi] family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause.”
The announcement came a day after singer Nelly Furtado revealed that she was donating the $1 million paycheck she received from performing a show for the Gaddafi’s family at an Italian hotel in 2007.
It seems like Beyoncé and Furtado didn’t think twice about putting Gaddafi’s money to good use.
